This invention is an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,233 issued Dec. 23, 1997.
In the process of the rolled reduction of steel rod or wire from a billet, the billet or bar is usually passed through a multi stage reduction mill wherein the bar is successively passed between pairs of mill rolls which squeeze the bar to reduce its cross sectional area at each rolling stage.
The rolls are mounted on robust cantilevered pinion shafts where slippage between the reducing roll and the pinion cannot be tolerated during a reduction operation.
This invention seeks to secure a mill roll on a cantilevered pinion by means of the use of pressurized hydraulic fluid. The roll is placed at a predetermined mounting position on the pinion and hydraulic fluid pressure is then introduced into a cavity provided so as to cause a threaded plug to move laterally from its initial position in the cavity provided within the pinion, and thus increase the diameter of the pinion under the roll mounted on the outer surface of the pinion. As soon as the threaded plug moves a predetermined distance in a lateral direction within the cavity, another set of ports is exposed which allows the introduction of pressurized hydraulic fluid into a second cavity to permit a substantial side thrust to be applied to the roll already located on the pinion so as to clamp it tightly against the shoulder provided on the pinion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,233 issued Dec. 23, 1997.